Year-over-year change

San Diego, two other California markets and Washington, D.C. were the sole bright spots in Tuesday's S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index, a leading indicator of housing health in the country.

Out of the 20 major U.S. metropolitan areas in the index, San Diego posted the only gain in home prices from October to November, though it was a minor one: 0.1 percent.

Year-over-year, San Diego was among four areas in the 20-city composite to see an increase, with home prices going up 2.6 percent. The other areas were Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. (Read more about that here.)

Some of the other major U.S. cities followed the opposite trend in the index, which is calculated every month and has a 60-day lag.

Nearly half the markets -- Atlanta, Charlotte, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, Portland, Seattle and Tampa -- dropped to their lowest levels since home prices reached their peaks in 2006 to 2007. In other words, prices in those areas have fallen below the historic lows recorded in spring 2009.

That trend may spur further speculation of a double-dip in home prices.

"Certainly eight cities setting new lows, and with the only positive news concentrated in southern California and Washington D.C., the data point to weakness in home prices," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's.

Even though four areas, including San Diego, posted gains since November 2009, "their annual rates are shrinking in recent months," Blitzer added.

Mark Goldman, a real-estate professor at San Diego State University, said San Diego likely did better than other areas in the country because of its already limited housing inventory, historically lower prices and fairly stable job markets such as the military.

"We're happy to see any positive insights," Goldman said. "I think values will kind of stabilize in 2011 ... We have a very resilient economy."